Sunday, December 21, 2014

Final Dinner Party Of The Season

For fun I made up some Christmas Crackers also known as Bon-Bon's to use for name place cards. To make these I cut a card board tube into 3.5". I then stuffed them with candy, small bottles of Jack Daniels for the men and Vintage key bottle openers for the women. Each also contained a scratch off lottery ticket that the most you could win was $10,000. I then wrapped them in gold glittery paper, finishing each cracker with ribbon. No one at the party won anything but me. I won $3.00.

Brie with caramelized onions wrapped up in a puff pastry, whats not to like? All this creamy goodness. You will find yourself unable to stop with just one more bite and another until next thing you know you have eaten half of what you made.

To prepare your brine, pour a can of pickled beets into a large mason jar or bow. Add cider vinegar, sugar, peppercorns and salt. Stir mixture. Carefully lower the hard boiled eggs into the brine, cover and let sit for a t least 12 hours, up to 2-3 days. The longer you leave them in the brine, the more sour and pink they'll end up. I like just the rim of pink and slight pickled flavor, so I let mine sit about 16 hours.

When brining time is finished, cut each egg in half and scoop out yolks. Place yolks in a medium sized bowl, along with the mustard, mayonnaise, curry, vinegar, and olive oil. Mix until smooth. You can add a little of water to the mixture, if it's too stiff. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Bring your sauce to a simmer over med/high heat and add in the shrimp. Turn the shrimp a couple times in the sauce while cooking and simmer until shrimp is cooked through. Don't overcook or your shrimp will turn rubbery.

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Mix the garlic with water and add to flour mixture and stir until all the ingredients are well incorporated; the dough should be wet and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest 12-18 hours on the counter at room temperature. When surface of the risen dough has darkened slightly, smells yeasty, and is dotted with bubbles, it is ready.

2. Lightly flour your hands and work surface. Place dough on work surface and sprinkle with more flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice and, using floured fingers, tuck the dough underneath to form a rough ball.

3. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with enough flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran to prevent the dough from sticking to the towel as it rises; place dough seam side down on the towel and dust with more flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran. Cover with the edges or a second cotton towel and let rise for about tow hours, until it has doubled in size.

4. After about 1 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 425'. Place a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot, such as a cast-iron Dutch oven, in the oven as it heats. When the dough has fully risen, carefully remove pot from oven. Remove top towel from dough and slide your hand under the bottom towel; Flip the dough over into pot, seam side up, Shake pan once or twice if dough looks unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

5. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes, until the crust is a deep chestnut brown. The internal temperature of the bread should be around 200'. You can check the is with a meat thermometer, if desired.

6. Remove the bread from the pot and let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Many years ago I received a magazine and this recipe was in it. The first time I made it we had gone to Holden Beach. Whats not to like with all this gooey chocolate topped with Cherry Chocolate Chunk Ice-Cream. At the time I thought, why would you serve Cherry Chocolate Chunk with Brownie Mint Pie. I must say D-E-L-I-S-H!!!

1 large jar maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
a few drops of red food coloring if desired

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, mix milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Turn on the ice-cream machine, pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until just about thicken. Add cherries and chocolate. Let mixture thicken. Place in freezer for about 2 hours before eating.

My table awaits...

Another great evening with friends Helen, Don, Carleen, Daniel, Stone and I.

Lucy joined in the evenings festivities and was so excited to get some attention from Carleen as she was being told how lovely she looked in her Christmas dress.

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About Me

I was born Brenda Johnson but my family calls me Aunt Bee. I was raised in a small Texas town: one red light was all it had. I believe now there are two. The youth would spend their time driving what we called the drag. Those were the good old days. When I wasn't driving, I was cooking. My mama taught me everything I know. She is still such a wonderful cook. She would prepare dinner then let my sister and I make dessert. My mother's cooking style was very southern and all Southerners know there is nothing better than biscuits, gravy and fried chicken. My mama was good at all of these. After moving to Tennessee, I, like my mother, cooked fried foods and casseroles for my four children. Since the children have left the nest, it's only Stone and I at home. I now cook many different things - my favorite being desserts. There is nothing wrong with a little butta and suga to complete a good meal. In the words of Julia Child, "a party without cake is just a meeting."

Besides cooking, I have a true passion for traveling. Now that the children are all grown up, Stone and I started traveling more - both domestically and internationally. I greatly enjoy learning about the local history, the different cultures and customs and, of course, the various types of ethnic foods.

I love to cook, travel, have dinner parties and share my recipes and happenings with friends and family. I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures and dinner parties and you'll take my ideas and incorporate them into your own dinner gatherings.